Revue de presse du 12 janvier

Publié le 26 janvier 201614:02

Apprentissage

Chronicle ‏@chronicle 6 minil y a 6 minutes – The story of a digital teddy bear shows how college learning is changing: http://chroni.cl/1mTM0In …The story of this toy bear and its student inventor encapsulates an important trend in how colleges and students are changing the way they think about education — and about the value of getting a higher education on a physical campus. It also represents one of the biggest new tech trends I noticed at the show this year that might change education — the idea that emotion and a stronger sense of physical presence can be transmitted online….)

Adjuncts deserve a “living wage,” writes IHEcontributor – John Warner, writing for Inside Higher Ed, imagines what would happen if every adjunct and contingent faculty member suddenly refused the courses they were offered. Half of the courses in a typical English department at a large US state university would be unfilled, creating pressure on departmental budgets that depend on the revenue from these courses to finance small seminars. “Currently, the only thing that allows some of these courses to continue is that they are taught by faculty who, in too many cases, are making less than a living wage,” Warner writes. He concludes that “without these faculty, there are institutions that would not reach the bare minimum threshold to be considered functioning,” and that therefore, the instructors deserve to be paid a living wage. Inside Higher Ed

Universities must prepare students for globalized world, says THE Most Innovative Teacher of 2015 – Momodou Sallah, a lecturer in youth, community, and education at De Montfort University (UK), emphasizes the importance of preparing students for a globalized world and the impact that global experience can have on an individual’s outlook and success. Sallah was named Most Innovative Teacher of the Year by Times Higher Education for taking a group of undergraduates studying youth and community development to the Gambia twice a year to gain first-hand experience. “We live in an increasingly globalized world and there is competition for our graduates to be globally competent and literate,” Sallah said. “Whether universities like it or not, we need to produce graduates who have got this knowledge and attitude, and it is only a matter of time before more and more universities are forced to do it.” Times Higher Education

Colleges push to make Saudi campuses financially sustainable – Despite both early and recent challenges, Algonquin College and Niagara College have indicated that they will continue their efforts to establish financially sustainable campuses in Saudi Arabia. Algonquin and Niagara opened campuses in the country in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and both have reportedly had to adjust to unpredictable circumstances. Algonquin Vice President, International and Strategic Priorities Doug Wotherspoon told the Ottawa Citizen that the college’s initial efforts were misled by information provided by Saudi Arabia. Instead of receiving the high-caliber applicants it had expected, the school reportedly found that “many students arrived with poor English, sub-standard math, and also lacking basic study skills such as taking notes and using a desktop computer.” After three years, however, Wotherspoon says that things are improving, and that the college is committed to the success of the campus. Ottawa Citizen

Inequality in UK higher ed access greater than previously thought – The gulf between the privileged and underprivileged in university entry rates in the UK is wider than previously thought, and according to a new government analysis, all progress in closing it has stalled. The report shows that those students identified as “the most privileged” may be three times more likely to attend higher education than those identified as the “least privileged,” in contrast to the 2.5 times suggested by previous figures. One vital gap addressed by the new research is the fact that prior numbers had not given significant attention to gender or ethnicity. According to the study, 45% of the most privileged group were enrolled in university, compared to 14% of the least privileged group. Times Higher Education| Report

Competitive landscape: More than 206,000 people applied for admission to at least one University of California campus for the 2016 fall semester, setting a new record for the 12th year in a row. UCLA received the most applications, followed by UC San Diego and UC Berkeley. Los Angeles Times

Tracking, responding to student engagement in international MOOCs – When tracking the engagement of students enrolled in international MOOCs, it is not enough to determine what proportion of students come from specific countries, writes a contributor for the Chronicle of Higher Education. When one investigates how student engagement can vary by gender between different countries, for example, this information might provide instructors crucial insight into how they can achieve higher quality and more equitable learning outcomes for an entire cohort. Student motives for taking a MOOC can also vary significantly, and these variations can sometimes show patterns that MOOC designers and instructors can use to guide the development of future courses. The contributor concludes, “I love teaching in the MOOC realm—it has advantages and possibilities that just aren’t there in other forms of teaching—but what we’ve seen in this work helps us understand that we’ve got a long way to go yet in terms of making a MOOC work for everyone around the world.” Chronicle of Higher Education(Subscription Required)

Students at WLU’s Brantford campus push for tuition freeze – Students at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus are joining calls for a “fully funded tuition freeze,” according to the Brantford Expositor, arguing that tuition is rising too quickly. “[By] your fourth year, your tuition will have risen almost 10% since your first year. This is faster than inflation, faster than government contributions, and faster than students can afford,” said Laura Bassett, WLU Student Union Vice-President of University of Affairs. Student leaders are calling for the government to increase its contribution to universities while decreasing the contribution from students, keeping overall funding levels the same. “We’re asking for a time out on unfair cost-sharing, a time out on mounting debt, and a time out on tuition hikes,” said Bassett. Brantford Expositor